Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2025-05-05
Books mentioned on #468 – Janna Levin: Black Holes, Wormholes, Aliens, Paradoxes & Extra Dimensions
Janna Levin is a theoretical physicist and cosmologist specializing in black holes, cosmology of extra dimensions, topology of the universe, and gravitational waves. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Copenhagen
Discussed“You might know this play "Copenhagen" by Michael Frayn. There's this line that he attributes to Bohr. And Bohr was the great thinker of early foundations of quantum mechanics, Danish physicist, where Bohr says to his wife, "Nobody's thought of a way to kill people using quantum mechanics."”
Where to get it
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The Black Hole War
Discussed“Lenny Susskind in his book "Black Hole Wars" says, his subtitle is "My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics."”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (8) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Own book A madman dreams of Turing machines
“She has also written some incredible books, including "How the Universe Got Its Spots" on the topic of the shape and the size of the universe, "A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines" on the topic of genius, madness, and the limits of knowledge, "Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space" on the topic of LIGO and the detection”
Own book Black hole blues
“She has also written some incredible books, including "How the Universe Got Its Spots" on the topic of the shape and the size of the universe, "A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines" on the topic of genius, madness, and the limits of knowledge, "Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space" on the topic of LIGO and the detection”
Own book Black Hole Survival Guide
“She has also written some incredible books, including "How the Universe Got Its Spots" on the topic of the shape and the size of the universe, "A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines" on the topic of genius, madness, and the limits of knowledge, "Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space" on the topic of LIGO and the detection”
Own book How the Universe Got Its Spots
“She has also written some incredible books, including "How the Universe Got Its Spots" on the topic of the shape and the size of the universe, "A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines" on the topic of genius, madness, and the limits of knowledge, "Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space" on the topic of LIGO and the detection”
“She has also written some incredible books, including "How the Universe Got Its Spots" on the topic of the shape and the size of the universe, "A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines" on the topic of genius, madness, and the limits of knowledge, "Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space" on the topic of LIGO and the detection”
Own book Black hole blues
“And the very fact that we're able to detect gravitational waves from the early universe is effing wild. Can you explain what gravitational waves are? And we should mention, you wrote a book about the humans, about the whole journey of detecting gravitational waves and LIGO with "Black Hole Blues" is the book.”
“And the very fact that we're able to detect gravitational waves from the early universe is effing wild. Can you explain what gravitational waves are? And we should mention, you wrote a book about the humans, about the whole journey of detecting gravitational waves and LIGO with "Black Hole Blues" is the book.”
Own book A madman dreams of Turing machines
“So, speaking of the human story, you also wrote the book "A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines." It connects two geniuses of the 20th century, Alan Turing and Gödel.”